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Topic: Pinocchio (Read 16288 times)

Warner Bros. and Team Downey are moving forward with their live-action take on Pinocchio and have enlisted Paul Thomas Anderson to write a draft with an eye toward directing.

Though the film would seem far outside of Anderson's wheelhouse, the move shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Downey was poised to star in Anderson's Inherent Vice until his Avengers: Age of Ultron obligations got in the way, and Joaquin Phoenix stepped in to play the lead. Downey and Anderson are good friends and have been looking to work together for some time.

The Giver writer Michael Mitnick penned the latest draft of Pinocchio, and Downey has been quietly tweaking the script for the past six months. Downey has been developing Pinocchio for years, but the project has found new urgency in the wake of a string of live-action hits based on kids classics, most recently Disney's Cinderella.

Ever since auteur Tim Burton turned Alice in Wonderland into a billion-dollar franchise and the Angelina Jolie starrer Maleficent earned $758 million worldwide last year, the studios have been angling to set up projects based on live-action kids tales, with A-list directors flocking to the projects across town.

Disney is bringing Beauty and the Beast to the big screen in March 2017 with Emma Watson in the lead and Bill Condon directing. Jon Favreau is filming The Jungle Book, also for Disney, for an April 2016 release. Not to be outdone, Warners has its own Jungle Book in production that stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett. That version, which will be released Oct. 6, 2017, will be a mix of live-action and performance capture CGI.

Over at Universal, a live-action version of The Little Mermaid is in the works, though Sofia Coppola recently dropped out due to creative differences. Burton, who was initially attached to direct Pinocchio, will instead direct a live-action Dumbo for Disney.

Downey is onboard to play Geppetto in the tale about a wooden puppet who wants to become a human boy. Bryan Fuller and Jane Goldman wrote previous drafts of the story that is based on a novel by Carlo Collodi. Downey, who most recently starred in Ultron, has a long-standing relationship with Warners (he recently starred in The Judge for the studio). He will produce Pinocchio alongside Team Downey partner Susan Downey as well as Dan Jinks (Milk).

Anderson is a six-time Oscar nominee who received a director mention for 2007's There Will Be Blood.

Alice in Wonderland, well I'll be. As far back as my thoughts had gone was Snow White and the Huntsman. It's outrageous business nonsense that one makes a billion dollars and they think "we need eight of these." Cinderella, 2015: $200,286,777. Disney, Universal, Warner Bros. May it be, obvs, that the young cannibalize the old and the best of all "live-action kids tales" is Pete's Dragon, which'll open on 3.5K+ screens at least, that's at least how many screens these movies open with.

Most recent credited examples like PT/Pinocchio was Noah Baumbach/Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, and before that Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne/Jurassic Park III. Did I forget some? I think they're fun. Why not.

Most Likely Scenario: Nothing comes of this. PTA turns in a draft, Downey + WB aren't feeling it, he moves on. They hire someone else to do another pass on the script.

Less Likely Scenario: PTA turns in a draft, gets really excited, Downey + WB are on board to make PTA's vision. Downey as producer takes the backseat, knowing he's gambling short term gains (the movie is an audience pleasing hit) for long term rewards (he makes a great movie with PTA). WB, the same studio that let Spike Jonze make Where The Wild Things Are without sanding off any of the idiosyncrasies and on a smaller scale let PTA do Inherent Vice, let's him do his thing. And then PTA makes a great Pinocchio movie which seems as unlikely as "Adam Sandler rom com" did back in 2001, but makes just as much sense after you see it.